Greek philosopher Aristotle once said “no great genius has ever existed without some touch of madness.” Well, Aristotle couldn’t had said it better because mad British garage inventor Colin Furze is a living proof. We admire Colin’s never afraid to try attitude and his latest creation, a homemade hoverbike, is yet another testimony of geniuses are not without madness. If you have flew RC helicopters (not quadcopters or any multi-rotor varieties, mind you) and tinker with the setup, you will appreciate why we are awed by his homemade hoverbike.
Scaled RC is comparatively simple, as modern electronics made taking to sky and flying it a whole lot less tricky, but to make a full scale, rideable example that actually works is in it, another level of complexity. As the man said it himself:
“You wanted me to fly, so I made this… it has no steering, it has no brakes, it has got two accelerators and not even a seat BUT can someone with no engineering qualification and no experience in flying made something that actually lifts off the ground?”
Well, lifts of the ground it did and after some practices, it kind of “fly” rather decently. It is not perfect, though; it lacks the electronics to aid in stability and makes maneuvering easier, but it is, after all, a functional flying machine cobbled up in his garage and that’s not to mention he obviously don’t have millions to spare in R&D to make things perfect to the tee. Hey, it took off, moves around a bit, hasn’t it? And for that, it is well worth the watch.
Image via Colin Furze.
